Brothers
by At your fingertips
Summary: AU What if Harry and Tom had been brothers? A series of oneshots that have different scenarios about their life. NO SLASH. ProtectiveTom. Innocent Harry. Fluff.
1. Curfew

"Harry."

Harry froze at the sound of his name. He had been trying to get to his dorm room as quietly and as sneakily as he could. However, it seemed that he wasn't successful. Harry glanced over at the person who called his name and reluctantly trudged over. Harry stood in front of the third year student, who currently had his arms crossed across his chest.

"Do you know what time it is?" Tom asked calmly. Harry looked down at the ground.

"It's 12:30." Harry replied quietly, knowing he was in trouble.

"Correct. Do you know what time curfew is for first year students?" Tom asked patiently, staring at Harry's head that was looking at the floor.

"It's 9:45." Harry mumbled feebly. Tom nodded his head.

"So you knew what time curfew is, yet you still decided to disobey? Harry, this castle can be dangerous at night. What if you got caught in a trip step, or a couple of students decided to "have a little fun" and cursed you?" Tom asked. Harry felt guilty for making his brother worry and stay up, but he wanted to explore!

"I just wanted talk to the ghosts." Harry said faintly. Tom felt a brush of irritation that Harry was trying to lie to him. He knew that his brother wanted to explore the castle, like he had when he was a first year, but that was no excuse to do it at night, _after_ curfew.

"Look at me." Tom commanded. Harry's emerald eyes looked into his, but he immediately looked down again. Tom grabbed his chin in his right hand and lifted his face to meet Tom's eyes. "Do not lie to me."

"Yes, Tom." Harry hesitated for a moment, before coming clean, "I wanted to see and explore around the castle." Harry knew that it wasn't wise to lie to the older student, but he didn't want to get punished. Somehow, Tom knew exactly when Harry was lying or not telling the entire truth. "And I'm sorry for lying to you." Tom nodded his head in approval and moved onto the dreaded part of the discussion.

"On Saturday, you'll have detention with Mr. Slughorn for two hours." Tom ordered. Harry closed his eyes as he waited for the next parts of the punishment. However, when Tom didn't say anything else, Harry peaked a look and saw that his brother was finished talking. Harry couldn't believe how light his punishment was. Just a detention? No grounding?

"Since this is the first time you've broken curfew, it's just a detention, but if you do it again, _I'll_ be the one to punish you instead of Mr. Slughorn. " Tom warned. "Understand?"

Harry nodded his head, "Yes, Tom."

"Good, now go upstairs and go to bed." Tom commanded, giving him a small swat as he walked past. "And the next time you want to explore, go during the _day_." Harry gave Tom a silly grin and ascended up the stairs to his dorm room. After Tom watched Harry disappear up the stairs, he smiled a little to himself and went up to bed himself.


	2. Bullies

_**November 12th**_

Harry sighed tiredly as he walked into his dorm room. He dropped his book bag and supplies on his bed and started to walk to the Dining Hall to eat dinner. He wanted to ask his brother for help on a charm's spell he couldn't quite seem to master. As he was walking down a corridor, Harry noticed a group of Gryffindor second years sauntering towards him. Harry thought it was a bit strange, but simply thought that they were looking for another student.

Harry became more wary as he saw that there wasn't a single person in the corridor with them, which meant that they were eyeing _him_. Harry subtly felt for his wand in his trouser pocket and tried to walk by casually. However, the group of students weren't going to let Harry go by that easily.

"Hey Riddle, where do you think you're going?" A tall boy asked menacingly. "Going to see your older snake brother?"

Harry felt offended that they were insulting his brother, but knew that if he fought against five older boys, he would definitely loose. Harry tried to ignore them and walk past again, but a blonde haired boy pushed him back, so that his back was against the wall. Harry became panicked, what was he supposed to do now?

"I just want to go down to the Dining Hall." Harry said quietly. He did _not_ want to get into a lot of trouble, _especially_ in his first year! Tom would be furious at him for getting into a fight.

The leader of the group stepped towards him and Harry cringed back a little, expecting a physical blow, but the leader just glared at him scornfully.

"Watch your back, Riddle." He said threateningly. He spat in Harry's face and walked away, his group of followers walking after him.

Harry wiped his face off with the sleeve of his robe and debated on what to do. Should he tell his brother what had happened? Even though he confided in his brother for a lot of things, he didn't want to be a bother.

He could handle this on his own. He also didn't want people to think that he was a baby and couldn't defend himself. No, he _could_ handle this by himself, he would prove it to himself _and_ to the group of Gryffindor boys. Harry stared at the doors leading to the Dining Hall and made his final decision.

He walked in and took a seat by his older brother, trying to act as if nothing was wrong.

Tom narrowed his eyes as he watched his brother start to eat his dinner. Who did Harry think he was, a stranger? He could tell that something was bothering the younger boy. Not to mention the fact that he was almost fifteen minutes late. Really, Tom was the one who looked after and helped Harry grow up at the orphanage. He knew all of Harry's body language and little tricks. Did he truly think that Tom couldn't tell that something was wrong? Tom frowned. The question was, should he confront Harry about whatever he was involved in, or let him have his privacy?

Back when Harry was still at the orphanage during the school year, Tom wouldn't even question his instinct. After all, Harry was still a kid who needed protection.

However, Harry was at Hogwarts now. He was starting to grow up and mature, did he still want Tom to be next to him every time he had a problem? If Harry did, Tom didn't mind, but did Harry want more privacy now?

Harry didn't make eye contact even once during the entire meal. Did that mean he didn't want Tom to know what was going on?

So be it, he would observe Harry more carefully and intervene if necessary.

A/N: Sorry if the insults were a little cliche, I didn't know what else to write, :( Review with some other phrases I could've said :)


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